


Baby Bird

by Onlymostydead



Series: Jason Todd Month [3]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Food, Found Family, Friendly banter, Gen, Implied/Referenced Temporary Canon Character Death, Light Angst, Mentions of canon typical violence, drug mention, not ship, police mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 00:23:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20497826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymostydead/pseuds/Onlymostydead
Summary: Jason gets a call from his little brother for backup, and gets surprised by his birthday the next morning.But hey, better not to be alone for that kind of thing, right?





	Baby Bird

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still working my way through this! Jason Todd Month August prompt Birthday!

Jason was metaphorically done with this phone call before it ever started. First off, it was late summer, meaning it was hotter than hot in Gotham City, and he could never stand it. Second, well...

No one ever called unless they wanted something. "Family", business, partners - it was all the same. People texted if they wanted to talk, called if they wanted to put you on the spot for something.

"Hey, Jay, It's Tim..."

"Cut to the chase. What do you want, Baby Bird?" 

Jason winced. That was a little harsh, even by his standards; the kid was only giving him a call, the least he could do was hear him out before passing judgement. Once he had heard his request, of course, it might be justified, but right now? Shit, he had no clue.

But at least he didn't call him replacement?

"Well, Bruce is hosting that humanitarian effort charity gala tonight first, before you ask me why I couldn't just talk to him." He explained, smartly anticipating his next question. "And I have leads indicating that a group of petty criminals are planning on breaking into that new chemical testing facility with all of its rich bosses busy in attendance."

Jason cleared his throat. "Your point?"

Tim huffed a sigh. "I have reason to suspect they're working with scarecrow, who's going to unleash the more powerful, higher quality toxins on the city via the sewer system... Probably. Last part's an educated guess."

"Would this happen to be the group of metas you've been trying to track?"

"...yeah." He admitted. "Yeah, it is. And I've been largely unsuccessful alone, to the point where it would be foolish to try to do this without some backup."

"Eh, sure. Why not?" Jason shrugged, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. "I'm always having to bail out you guys when you get yourselves into more trouble than you can handle, after all."

"That's not..." Tim sighed again. "Alright. Meet me on the corner of 5th and Dalton, on the news building, at around ten thirty tonight... And Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"What do you mean, Baby Bird?" Jason grinned. "I'm just being a good older brother. Be there tonight. Bye."

***

"There's seven of them." Jason repeated, pinching the ridge of his nose. "I didn't mishear you?"

Tim hesitated, shifted his weight back and forth and taking an intense interest in the rooftop beneath them before giving the answer their both knew to be true. "...no?"

"And you've decided to fight them how many times?"

"Like..." He started to count on his fingers. "Eight? Nine if you count that one time, but I'll say eight... And a half."

Jason resisted the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him, instead sucking in another deep breath through his nose. "Alone?"

"Pretty much... Pretty much, yeah. Dick was there once."

"Stupid." He spat, shaking his head. "You absolute dumbass."

"Hey! You've made worse decisions!" Tim defended. "And besides, I-"

"Shh." Jason interrupted. "It's a miracle you haven't died yet. Seriously, you stupid piece of shit."

He glared at him. "I can take care of myself, thanks."

"I meant it in a nice way. But it's not a crime to ask for help, seriously; try it sometime. Alright, now continue with the plan."

"Okay, so there's seven of them." Tim said, pulling up his schematics from before. "That's seriously as far as I got before you interrupted me?"

"You betcha, Baby Bird."

"Fair." He sighed. "Alright, to be honest, their names aren't going to be important to you, but their skill sets are. These meta powers were all obtained by Lex Luthor's second release of metagene drugs, so they are less reliant on the drugs themselves and the powers are generally better-"

"But performance is unpredictable on occasion." Jason finished, rolling his eyes. "Jeez, kid, I know my shit. Just 'cause you walk around with Superman's kid all the time doesn't make you the Luthor expert; those were still drugs getting into Gotham and I was still dealing with them."

"Just making sure. You aren't exactly the most consistent." 

"Says you?"

Tim scoffed. "That's another issue entirely, okay? Back to this-"

"That's another set of of issues, Red." Jason snorted. "But carry on."

"Okay, back before you started coming for my life-"

He chuckled. "I did not come for your life."

"You didn't." Tim agreed, rolling his eyes. "But before that - so we have three super strength, two super speed, the ever-elusive invisibility that works only sometimes as intended, and one who can fly."

"Kind of a weird team."

"No kidding." He nodded, turning his holo-screen to show Jason the information. "But we'll be dealing with here, and the difficulty is, since they could possibly have invisibility..."

"We have to account for it." Jason guessed. "Nasty. Even though, in all likelihood, they'll go for a more brute attack."

"Yep."

"Wonderful, then let's get to it, Baby Bird. I already know that building so well I could run through it backwards wearing a blindfold."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Lots of break in's with your side of cases?"

"It's a chem lab. What do you think?"

"...exactly." He yawned. "Then let's get going... One more thing."

Jason stopped. "What?"

"What's with you calling me "Baby Bird" all of a sudden?" Tim asked, collapsing the hologram. "It's..."

"What, do you not like it?"

He shrugged. "No, I don't really care, to be honest. It's just weird."

"Great. Then let's get going." Jason pulled on his helmet. "Baby Bird."

***

"Well." Jason breathed, tugging off his helmet. "That was a shitshow."

Tim coughed, doubling over at the waist, trying to rid his lungs of the noxious fumes from back in the chemical lab. "You can - fuck - say that-"

"You sure you're okay?"

He glared at him out of the corner of his eye, slowly regaining control of his breathing. "Fine. I'm-" he coughed again. "Just peachy."

Jason cringed. "It's so much creepier when anyone but Dick says "Just peachy"."

"Yeah." Tim agreed, slowly standing upright again. "It really is. I think that's how he means it too, though."

"Does he?"

"Probably?"

They both just shook their heads, deciding to leave that for another time. 

"Alright, well..." Tim yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Hey, all seven metas are now in GCPD custody."

"Not for long." Jason snorted. "They'll be back on the streets within the week, trust me."

"Why would you..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Why, after I've been struggling to apprehend them this long, would you say that?"

"Oops, I'm sorry. Congratulations, you finally did it. Let's celebrate."

Tim glared at him. "The mission report isn't going to look good... I should probably head back to take some scene photos before the GCPD get there, come to think of it. But hey, I can add that to all of their files: apprehended August fifteenth... Nope, it's the sixteenth now, since it's past midnight. Apprehended August sixteenth."

"Wait." Jason stopped, blinking a couple of times. "It's August sixteenth?"

"Yeah?"

He grinned. "Well, you know what then, Baby Bird?"

"What?"

"We're gonna go get those photos to go with your report, 'cause I know the boss is a real stickler for those, then have I got some other plans."

***

"I think this is the nicest you've ever been to me." Tim said through a mouth full of strawberry cake. "Still have no idea why, since you're deciding to be a cryptic ass about it, and it's definitely not about apprehending the metas, but-"

"Hey, I'm the one who just saved your sorry ass." Jason reminded, stabbing himself another bite. "And then I got you a slice of cake, when I could have just come alone. So you can't afford to complain."

"Even if you're being cryptic and weird?"

"Don't you bats love that shit?" He asked, pointing his fork at him.

"You bats?" Tim cocked his head to the side. "You say that like you're not one of us."

Jason took his bite of cake, thinking of something snarky to snap back with, but... He froze. 

You bats.

Because Tim knew where he was from; shit, he had called him replacement long enough. That he was Robin. Yeah, he was a bat, but...

Red Hood was so opposite to what the bats stood for. It was a street identity, passed down over the years from one person looking to conceal their identity to the next. He was using it for good now, but that didn't get rid of the negative connotation. 

He killed people. Not all the time, or uncontrolled, or anything like that - but he got rid of those who shouldn't be around. Bruce wouldn't talk to him for that fact alone.

Still... He wondered if he would wake up tomorrow, see the date, and remember his birthday. August sixteenth; he should be... How old now? 

Never mind. With death? That was a hard question to answer. He would put some thought into it later. For now? He was going to enjoy some hard-earned cake. 

But... Was he still a bat?

"I mean, I'm not really, anymore, am I?" Jason shrugged, stabbing his slice of cake. "After everything... I doubt boss would be really keen on me callin' myself a bat."

Tim scoffed, then took another bite. "I mean, if you don't want to be one, that's fine, but we're not keeping you out, Red."

"That's not true and you know it."

Immediately, it was like the temperature of the little diner dropper twenty degrees. 

Tim sucked in a deep breath, and... "Look, Jason, this is a lot less about what choices you make about criminals and a whole lot more about the fact that you're family, okay? And I'm saying this as the guy who you stabbed. Yes, Bruce makes bad choices, and he's shit at communication, and I shouldn't be the one saying this to you, but... You're welcome anytime, I'm pretty sure."

"I... Right."

He frowned, picking at a strawberry. "You believe me, don't you?"

"No, I do, it's just..."

Jason didn't know what exactly to say. It's just been a long time since he had trusted any of the bats. Just a long time since he had trusted much of anyone, really. Just a lot of things he was going to have to work on. 

"Yeah." He finally just said. "Yeah, I believe you."

Tim relaxed, spearing the strawberry on his fork and taking another bite of cake. "Good. Alfred's always worried about you, you know."

"I'll..." Jason swallowed. "I'll stop by tomorrow, just to visit him. Not boss, but... I'll stop by for Alfred."

He smiled. "And Dick wants to know how you're doing..."

"Okay, maybe I'll talk to him. Maybe."

"And it would be nice to drop in to chat with Babs once in a while." Tim pointed out. 

"Okay, okay, I get it. They miss me, and boss's opinion doesn't mean shit." Jason sighed. "I could probably use backup around the city once in a while, anyway."

"After all," He grinned, leaning forward on the table. "It's not a crime to ask for help."

"Oh, shut up, replacement."

"Bite me, Red."

Jason shook his head. "You're such a little twerp, you know that?"

"Twerp?" Tim raised an eyebrow. "That's one I haven't heard in a while. What is this, the opening of Home Alone?"

He snorted a laugh. "Yeah, you're like, eight year old Macaulay Culkin, and I am absolutely planning on taking this Christmas vacation without bringing you with me."

"That... Implies they planned on leaving him behind."

"Didn't they?" Jason asked through a mouth full of cake. "I mean... Eh, never mind."

"Yeah, that's a question that doesn't need to be fully explored at the moment." Tim agreed. "But, speaking of questions that need to be fully explored at the moment..."

He swallowed. "Oh, I do not like the sound of that."

"Why are we eating cake?"

"Oh, that's easy." Jason waved him off. "It's my birthday."

"Oh." Tim blinked. "Uh... Happy birthday?"

"Yeah. Happy birthday." He took another bite, then grinned. "After all, pretty miserable to spend a birthday alone."

"...yeah, I would say so. Yeah."

"Much better do do it with family."

Tim's eyes widened for a moment, then he just smiled, shaking his head. "Exactly, Jay. Exactly."

"But we're getting pretty close to finishing up this cake, and it's gotten pretty late for a kid like you to be out. So I oughta give you a ride home, right..." Jason grinned. "...Baby Bird?"

"...sure, Red. Sure."

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at Supertinywords or Supertinybats!
> 
> Requests are open!
> 
> Comments are love <3


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